Look at the M17S from K&M. It is NOT an Ar15 (actually an AR16/AR180 descendent), but there are a number of really neat features and they're top notch quality. If length is a priority, no AR15 build can touch it.

I spent years researching just such a build and came across this. Ken is a great guy and by all accounts (mine included) does outstanding work.

Government, like fire is a dangerous servant and a fearful master
If you ain't paranoid you ain't paying attention
Don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war let it begin here- John Parker

Good luck with that. Lots of folks start with the intention of taking a year to piece together and AR and find themselves on the range within 2-3 mos.

My intention is to build a quality gun, but to keep the price down as best as I can.

This is certainly achievable, but price will depend on how willing you are to watch and wait for sales. There are a ton of people out there selling AR parts, and nearly all of them will be having sales between now and the end of the year.

The lower seems to me to be the best place to start...

Yes--the lower is a great place to start, and by the time you're done you'll have a better idea if you want to build your upper or just buy one.

I want a good quality casting, but is any one stripped lower better than another?

Not unless you like brand names and pretty engravings.

What should I look for?

As others have said, there's nothing wrong with an Anderson stripped lower.

I suspect that the plastic is not as ideal...

The modern polymer lowers are fine for most purposes, as the lower really doesn't take a lot of stress under normal circumstances. But since they're not any cheaper than a standard aluminum forging, they only make sense if you want to trade durability for mass.

Is there an advantage to the enclosed trigger guard vs. the milspec bottom piece?

The advantage to a built-in trigger guard is mainly that you don't have to buy/install your own. A flat guard comes in most lower parts kits, but installing it is the one place where people will occasionally break their lower. The ears that hold the trigger guard roll pin need to be supported well when you hammer it in, or you can snap it off. Very few people actually ever open the trigger guard to shoot--not a lot of shooting in mittens in Texas.

I am having a hard time telling the difference between a $39 and a $300 piece.

Unless they've done a lot of extra mill work to save a few ounces or it's designed for pistol calibers, the differences are all cosmetic. Some of the more extreme cases will actually make it difficult to fit some aftermarket parts (though that's more often an issue with uppers than lowers).

Aero-precision will have regular sales on uppers and lowers at a good price. Sandersarmory.com has good deals running most all the time for kits or parts you need. They also are a very good business to deal with as they ship fast and will answer any questions you may have. I have built about a dozen or so rifles in .223/5.56, .300 blk and 6.5 CM. If I can do it anyone can. Take your time and enjoy building yourself a new rifle.

I’ve built ARs out of both forged and billet receivers. The billet receivers were very nice in appearance - and in one case, had additional features not found on most other receivers - but I can’t truthfully say that the billet receiver rifles were any more accurate than the forged receiver rifles. Accuracy came from using premium barrels, good aftermarket triggers, and quality ammo. Optics don’t make a rifle any more accurate. They just make it easier for the shooter to shoot it more accurately. But an optic cannot cause a rifle to exceed it’s inherent accuracy.

Here are the things I would counsel:

- ambidestrous controls, to the extent possible.
- a high quality trigger from a company like Geissele or Timney ... or something in that quality range.
- a premium barrel in either 1:8 or 1:7 twist.
- a decent quality BCG, with an M16 cut carrier.
- a comfortable buttstock that gives you a decent cheek weld.

Every thing else.... and I mean EVERY thing else.... is just a matter of marketing hype and/or personal preferences.

The cheapest receiver I ever bought was $70. The most expensive was $450.

And speaking of accuracy, with an AR15 in carbine format, count your stars if you can achieve 1 MOA. Consistent sub-MOA is a rarity in the AR15 world, and it require an investment of cash to make it happen. Your average Colt 6920 carbine, for instance, is a 2-3 MOA rifle. This is perfectly normal and OK.

TAM, that can't be right... every AR I read about on forums shoots MOA or better!

I’ve built ARs out of both forged and billet receivers. The billet receivers were very nice in appearance - and in one case, had additional features not found on most other receivers - but I can’t truthfully say that the billet receiver rifles were any more accurate than the forged receiver rifles. Accuracy came from using premium barrels, good aftermarket triggers, and quality ammo. Optics don’t make a rifle any more accurate. They just make it easier for the shooter to shoot it more accurately. But an optic cannot cause a rifle to exceed it’s inherent accuracy.

Here are the things I would counsel:

- ambidestrous controls, to the extent possible.
- a high quality trigger from a company like Geissele or Timney ... or something in that quality range.
- a premium barrel in either 1:8 or 1:7 twist.
- a decent quality BCG, with an M16 cut carrier.
- a comfortable buttstock that gives you a decent cheek weld.

Every thing else.... and I mean EVERY thing else.... is just a matter of marketing hype and/or personal preferences.

The cheapest receiver I ever bought was $70. The most expensive was $450.

And speaking of accuracy, with an AR15 in carbine format, count your stars if you can achieve 1 MOA. Consistent sub-MOA is a rarity in the AR15 world, and it require an investment of cash to make it happen. Your average Colt 6920 carbine, for instance, is a 2-3 MOA rifle. This is perfectly normal and OK.

TAM, that can't be right... every AR I read about on forums shoots MOA or better!

Yeah, I heard on CNN, that Ar 15s, are the most dangerous guns on the planet, due to all of the grips, stocks, shoulder things that go up etc. that make them so deadly accurate, and can kill thousands with just a single trigger pull, and never need to be reloaded.

I’ve built ARs out of both forged and billet receivers. The billet receivers were very nice in appearance - and in one case, had additional features not found on most other receivers - but I can’t truthfully say that the billet receiver rifles were any more accurate than the forged receiver rifles. Accuracy came from using premium barrels, good aftermarket triggers, and quality ammo. Optics don’t make a rifle any more accurate. They just make it easier for the shooter to shoot it more accurately. But an optic cannot cause a rifle to exceed it’s inherent accuracy.

Here are the things I would counsel:

- ambidestrous controls, to the extent possible.
- a high quality trigger from a company like Geissele or Timney ... or something in that quality range.
- a premium barrel in either 1:8 or 1:7 twist.
- a decent quality BCG, with an M16 cut carrier.
- a comfortable buttstock that gives you a decent cheek weld.

Every thing else.... and I mean EVERY thing else.... is just a matter of marketing hype and/or personal preferences.

The cheapest receiver I ever bought was $70. The most expensive was $450.

And speaking of accuracy, with an AR15 in carbine format, count your stars if you can achieve 1 MOA. Consistent sub-MOA is a rarity in the AR15 world, and it require an investment of cash to make it happen. Your average Colt 6920 carbine, for instance, is a 2-3 MOA rifle. This is perfectly normal and OK.

TAM, that can't be right... every AR I read about on forums shoots MOA or better!

I currently own 5 AR15s:

A very basic M4 carbine, with a 1:9 twist military contract barrel from ER Shaw. It’s a very dependable 2-3 MOA rifle

A very fancy 16” carbine with a LOT of money invested in it, with a Rainier Arms 5R polygonal rifled medium contour 1:8 match grade barrel. Rainier guarantees sub-MOA with match ammo from that barrel. In the real world, it shoots 1 MOA with match ammo.

A 10.5” SBR in .300 Blk with a LOT of money invested in it, with a Rainier Arms “match grade” barrel with a sub-MOA guarantee. It shoots 1.5 MOA at best.

A 20” M16/A4 replica, built on a Bravo Company complete upper, 1:7, standard gov’t contour barrel. It shoots about 1.5 MOA with M855 and M193 ball ammo. Never tried match ammo in it, but it seems to be inherently very accurate.

And mind you, almost all of those results were obtained from a bench. The DMR, the most accurat AR I own, has been shot accurately at 500 yards from the prone, and is accurate out to that distance....shooting fairly expensive ammo. Is it possible to get sub-MOA accuracy out of a AR15? Absolutely. Can you get there without spending a fair amount of money? Not a chance in hades.

• Give me Liberty or I'll get up and get it myself.
• I don't carry because of the odds, I carry because of the stakes.
• My dream is to have lived my life so well that future generations of leftists will demand my name be removed from buildings.
• Independent Minarchist.

I've just finished my first AR build. And despite the hard time I had with the bolt catch roll pin, it won't be my last. It was definitely a much easier process (except for the bolt catch) than I expected. Here's some of what I figured out along the way:

Lower - You don't have to spend a ton of money on a tricked out lower unless you really want to. I think highly of Aero Precision (and so do a lot of other companies, as Aero actually manufactures lowers for several different companies and stamps their respective names on them). The basic model will go $30-40. The gen 2 will go $80-90. Gen 2 is a bit more sturdy and includes a tension screw that helps tighten up the fit between the upper & lower.

Rifle accuracy occurs at the intersection of 3 points: shooter, barrel, and trigger. A good shooter on a bad rifle will generally outperform a poor shooter on a good rifle. But even the best shooters can't make a junk barrel or sloppy trigger perform better than what they are. So when you're planning out your budget, barrel and trigger should be a good chunk of it.

Now here comes the shameless plug - start with Primary Arms. Full disclosure: I work in the marketing department of Primary Arms, but this isn't hype. We've got a huge inventory that's getting bigger as we're heading into the holidays & our customer service is top priority. For most other folks, shipping is incredibly fast. But since the op is in Galveston, you can bypass that & pick up your order from our storefront at Beltway 8 & 288.

I've just finished my first AR build. And despite the hard time I had with the bolt catch roll pin, it won't be my last. It was definitely a much easier process (except for the bolt catch) than I expected. Here's some of what I figured out along the way:

Lower - You don't have to spend a ton of money on a tricked out lower unless you really want to. I think highly of Aero Precision (and so do a lot of other companies, as Aero actually manufactures lowers for several different companies and stamps their respective names on them). The basic model will go $30-40. The gen 2 will go $80-90. Gen 2 is a bit more sturdy and includes a tension screw that helps tighten up the fit between the upper & lower.

Rifle accuracy occurs at the intersection of 3 points: shooter, barrel, and trigger. A good shooter on a bad rifle will generally outperform a poor shooter on a good rifle. But even the best shooters can't make a junk barrel or sloppy trigger perform better than what they are. So when you're planning out your budget, barrel and trigger should be a good chunk of it.

Now here comes the shameless plug - start with Primary Arms. Full disclosure: I work in the marketing department of Primary Arms, but this isn't hype. We've got a huge inventory that's getting bigger as we're heading into the holidays & our customer service is top priority. For most other folks, shipping is incredibly fast. But since the op is in Galveston, you can bypass that & pick up your order from our storefront at Beltway 8 & 288.

I own a Ruger Ar556 outfitted with Magpul MOE furniture. It's a fine shooter and I like it a lot. It didn't set me back much money either. I am not looking to build a sniper weapon. I am limited to pretty much a 100yd range, my abilities limit me to a 4 inch circle at 100yds, and I'm happy with that. I will be happy to build a gun that is at as least accurate.

I didn't know that about the Aero gen 2. Sturdy = reliable means more to me than pretty or even super potential accuracy.

Things that I will eventually want a flat top, flip up battle sights. Decent chrome lined barrel. Quality BCG M16 open style, with some resistance to fouling. I don't understand the different metallurgy yet.

Right now I'm looking mostly at a2 stage Rock River trigger Its around $85.00. Primary arms I can get not only a good price but can save on shipping and FFL fees, that could just about double the price of a receiver. I bought some Magazines at the old place once, and it was a pleasant experience.

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